


Prom Dress

by yuma_akutagawa



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Angst, Dysphoria, M/M, Multi, Trans Lio, mentions of trauma, trans Gueira
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:01:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23475880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuma_akutagawa/pseuds/yuma_akutagawa
Summary: On a day the Mad Burnish gang and Galo had scheduled to hang out at Gueira's apartment, they find Gueira in a shocking state of being, one much different than his usual cocky, loud personality. Quite the opposite in fact. Depression can hit hard at any time, and it can bring up some unpleasant memories.ON AN INDEFINITE HIATUS
Relationships: Gueira/Galo Thymos, Gueira/Meis (Promare), Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos, Lio Fotia/Gueira, Lio Fotia/Gueira/Meis/Galo Thymos, Lio Fotia/Meis, Meis/Galo Thymos
Comments: 1
Kudos: 37





	1. Chapter 1

Meis knocked on the door in front of him, holding a 7-11 bag. “Gueira? Are you home?” When he received no answer, he looked at Lio and Galo worriedly. “We told him we were coming over, right?”

Lio nodded, taking out his phone. “He said it was fine if we came after three.” He stepped up to the door, knocking louder than Meis. “Gueira?! Gueira, are you awake?”

After a few moments of silence, Galo sighed, rolling up his sleeves. “That’s it, I’ll—”

The door’s lock clicked a second later, and the door opened. Gueira hadn’t even changed out of his night clothes. His hair was disheveled, and dark circles were prominent under his eyes. “Hey. Sorry, can we...can I take a raincheck for this? I’m not…” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, his voice on the brink of cracking. “I’m not doing great right now, I just...I think I need to be alone.”

A word flashed through Lio’s mind for a fleeting second. _Trauma._ “Gueira, are you...are you having flashbacks?”

Gueira stiffened, and he moved to close the door. “Sorry, I’ll be better tomorrow—”

Lio held the door open, startling the redhead. “I’m not leaving you alone like this.” Looking over Gueira’s shoulder, he could now clearly see the state of Gueira’s apartment with the outside light shining in. All the lights were off, there were soda cans and at least three empty take-out boxes littering on the coffee table. It looked as if Gueira had made his new bed on the couch, which was much closer to the kitchen than his room. The TV was on, some mindless infomercial salesman yelling out his product.

Meis’s eyes widened. “Gueira, is everything okay?”

Gueira’s shoulders started shaking. “I didn’t...want you guys to see me like this…”

Galo stepped forward, putting his hand on Gueira’s shoulder. “Talk to us. We’re your friends, Gueira. Especially them.”

“...why do you care?” Gueira’s voice was unusually cold, making Lio flinch slightly. 

“It’s my job as a firefighter to help those in need,” Galo replied, unfazed by Gueira’s tone. “You’re in need, I’m not going to just let you wallow in your own hatred like this.”

Gueira kept his head down, holding himself tightly. 

“Can we come in?” Lio asked softly, reaching out to put his hand on Gueira’s arm. It took a moment, but Gueira finally nodded. Lio wrapped an arm around Gueira, leading him to sit on the couch. “We’ll clean this up. The mess will just make things worse.”

“No, let me—” Gueira tried to object.

“Gueira, please...just rest for a moment. Let us take care of you,” Meis said, setting down the 7-11 bag on the kitchen counter. Surprisingly, the kitchen was mostly clean. The sink was only filled with a few dirty utensils, and two bowls. The trash, however, was overflowing, and Meis could smell the food inside starting to turn. “I’ll gather up the trash,” he called to Lio. “Gueira, where do you keep the trash bags?”

“Under the kitchen sink…” Gueira replied.

Meis nodded, kneeling down under the sink. He grabbed the box of trash bags, making a mental note that there were other cleaners and extra sponges in the same location. He handed some trash bags to Lio and Galo, before going to work in the kitchen.

As Meis began gathering up the trash in the kitchen, Lio began gathering up the trash on the coffee table. 

Galo went over to the lightswitch, his hand hovering over it. “Gueira, I’m turning on the light, is that okay?” When Gueira nodded, he flicked on the light. Gueira flinched, rubbing his eyes. He obviously hadn’t seen proper light in a while. Galo estimated a few days, at least.

The three of them made fast work of cleaning the immediate messes in the apartment, including Meis working on the dishes in the sink.

“There, that should help somewhat,” Galo said proudly.

Gueira shrugged slightly, still looking at the floor. 

Lio looked around, and grabbed the blanket off the floor he presumed that Gueira had thrown off when he got up. He draped the blanket over Gueira, sitting next to him. “Will you talk to us? We’re worried, Gueira.”

Meis brought over the 7-11 bag, setting it on the coffee table. “I got those drinks you like. The mango ones.” He took out a bottle of mango soda, holding it out to Gueira. “It’s still cold.”

Gueira took the drink, staring at the label. 

“You need to drink something. You need fluids,” Lio said. “I’d rather you drink water, but start with this? Please?”

Gueira nodded slightly, twisting the cap open. He took a small sip of the drink, licking his lips. 

“I’ll order us some proper food too,” Lio said, pulling out his phone. “Something with protein, you need proper food, Gueira.” Once he placed the order, he looked over at Gueira, only to find his former comrade lost in his own thoughts. “Gueira?” When he got no response, he put his hand on Gueira’s knee, causing the redhead to jerk his head up. “Sorry, you were spacing out. I just didn’t want you to spiral too deep into your thoughts.”

“There’s nothing there I haven’t thought of before,” Gueira said. “I’ve gone through every thought a hundred times over, but they...they still hurt…”

There was silence for a few minutes, everyone struggling to find words. A sharp knock on the door caught Meis’s, Lio’s, and Galo’s attention, and Lio immediately got to his feet.

Opening the door, Lio took out his wallet. “Thirty-two twenty-three, right?” he asked, looking at the deliverer.

“Wait a sec...aren’t you that Mad Burnish leader?!” they said loudly. “I didn’t think scum like you _ate_.”

Lio felt anger bubbling in his chest, but pushed it down. “Can I have my food now? Or are you going to waste my time?”

“Waste _your_ time?! You wasted _my_ time by having me drive all the way out here to bring _you_ food!”

Galo sighed, moving to stand behind Lio. “Dude, your attitude isn’t wanted right now, or ever. Give us our food.”

“Galo Thymos?! Oh, of course, you were with this piece of shit! You nearly destroyed the town!”

“Yeah, and we worked hard to rebuild it. We also saved thousands of lives in the process. Can we have our food?” Galo repeated.

The deliverer scoffed, shoving the bag into Lio’s arms. “Whatever. Just give me the money.”

Lio handed over thirty. “Keep the change.”

“I fucking will!” they said, snatching the money out of his hand before stomping off. “Fuck you and all your Burnish friends! Fucking freaks!”

Lio sighed, closing the door. “I’ll be leaving a bad review about them on the website.” He set the bag on the coffee table, taking out the boxes. “This one’s yours, Galo. And Meis. And this one’s yours, Gueira.”

Gueira took the box with shaking hands, staring at the stark styrofoam. 

“Hey, you know that person was just being rude, their words weren’t true,” Meis said to Gueira. “People like that aren’t worth your time.”

“I’m used to it,” Gueira replied.

Lio was silent for a moment, before handing Gueira the disposable chopsticks. “You should eat some proper food.”

Their lunch was silent, not even Galo tried to make jokes. Gueira was the slowest to eat, only finishing about half before he set down his box. “I’ll save the rest for later.”

Lio looked as if he wanted to object, but said nothing. “I’m glad you ate something.”

Meis stood up, gathering up the boxes. “I’ll put it in the fridge for you.” He went to the kitchen, throwing away the empty boxes. When he was putting Gueira’s box in the fridge, he saw that it was nearly empty, with just a few beer and soda cans on the top shelf and a half-empty pack of sliced cheese. “Gueira, when was the last time you went to the store?”

Gueira looked up, then shrugged. “...last month I think? Maybe the month before...”

Meis bit his lip in worry. “I’m taking you to the store later. You need more than beer and sliced cheese.”

“Excuse me?!” Lio and Galo exclaimed in unison. 

Gueira flinched in response. “I...haven’t been able to get myself to leave the house…”

“Oh, Gueira…” Lio murmured, putting his hand on Gueira’s knee. “Please? Will you talk to us?”

Gueira wrapped the blanket tighter around himself. “I...I’m scared.” 

Lio moved to sit on the couch next to him, wrapping his arms around Gueira. “I know. I won’t push you to do so now, but please...you can tell us anything. We’re your friends.”

Meis moved over to sit on the arm of the couch, also wrapping his arms around Gueira. “We love you, Gueira.”

Galo immediately shot to his feet and held onto all three of the former Mad Burnish leaders. “Gueira, you mean so much to us. We’ll always be here for you.”

Gueira felt hot tears burn the corner of his eyes, and his hands found their ways to Lio’s and Meis’s shirts, holding on tightly. He buried his face in Galo’s shoulder and began crying loudly, his shoulders shaking with each sob. “I-I’m s-sorry, I’m s-so sorry-y! I-I want to b-be strong for you g-guys, I r-really do! I-I just—” 

“I know, Gueira. It’s okay now, you can cry. We’re here for you,” Lio said.

Lio’s words only prompted the others to continue their words of encouragement, which in turn prompted more crying from Gueira. But they let him cry until he was all out of tears, instead starting to dryly sob. 

Gueira went to wipe his eyes with his sleeves, still hiccuping.

“I love you guys.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Transphobia and Burnish discrimination

_ “GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! I CAN’T BELIEVE A  _ **_FREAK_ ** _ LIKE YOU IS MY OWN CHILD!” _

_ Gueira scrambled to grab what he could, before he was roughly grabbed by the shoulders and quite literally thrown through the front door. Frantically getting to his knees, he looked at the tall figure that he had once called his father.  _

_ “Don’t ever come back. I hope the Freeze Force finds you.” _

_ Gueira’s blood went cold, and he flinched hard when the door was slammed shut. Now stranded on the darkening street, he was able to finally process the last three hours. Tugging his jacket closer around himself, he got to his feet and grabbed his bag. What had just happened…? _

_ Crying and screaming from his house made him look back. He heard something along the lines of, “What’s wrong with you?!” and “She’s a child!!” from what he recognized was his mother. _

_ His eyes widened when the front door opened again, and his mother rushed onto the porch. _

_ “Run, baby! He called the Freeze Force! Just run!!” she cried. “I’ll find you, sweetie. I love you, Grace.” _

_ Despite the piercing ice that filled Gueira’s chest at being called his deadname, he contemplated running back to his mother. However, the sound of the blaring sirens, the signature sirens of the Freeze Force, and his father running onto the porch with a knife, looking as if he were about to go after Gueira himself, sent Gueira running down the street.  _

_ The sirens followed him, and he could hear the distinct laughter that he recognized all too well as Colonel Vulcan. Gueira skirted to the right, and dashed down the alleyway. He crouched behind a dumpster, covering his ears as tears threatened to spill down his face. The laughter followed him as the sirens blared past the alleyway, still echoing with the sirens as they patrolled the streets. _

_ “Come on out, you filthy Burnish!” Vulcan cackled. “Turn yourself in and maybe I’ll go easy on you!” _

_ Gueira knew that was a lie. He’d seen the Burnish who had cooperated, and those who hadn’t. Vulcan had treated them all the same, with the unnecessary police brutality that could only be acted out by a power-hungry individual who’d been given too much power.  _

_ The laughter and sirens faded as the cars began patrolling other areas of Promepolis, and only then did Gueira break down. He pulled his knees close and sobbed, his throat closing up as he tried desperately to keep himself quiet. _

Gueira awoke with a start. He heard crying in the room, and it only took him a moment to realize it was his own. He rolled over, wiping his eyes.

“Gueira?” Meis called. “Are you alright?” A weight settled behind Gueira, and Meis reached out a hand to Gueira’s shoulder. “Gueira?”

Gueira flinched when Meis’s hand settled on him, and he jerked himself away. “G-go away,” he whimpered, cursing himself for stuttering.

“Gueira, please talk to me,” Meis said. “We’re here for you.”

“Is he awake?” Lio asked from somewhere near the door.

“ _ Please _ , just go,” Gueira begged, curling up under the blankets. Wait, when did he get in bed?

“You fell asleep on the couch,” Meis replied, as if knowing what Gueira was thinking. “I moved you to the bed, I figured it would be more comfortable.”

Gueira was silent for a moment, before he whimpered, “It hurts…”

“What hurts? Do you need painkillers?” Meis asked worriedly. Gueira shook his head. “...Nightmares?” Gueira nodded. “Oh Gueira…” Meis helped Gueira sit up, and cupped Gueira’s face in one hand, his thumb brushing away some of the tears. “You’re safe now.”

Gueira lowered his head, and another round of sobs started escaping his throat. His hands went to fist into his hair, tugging harshly at his scalp.

“Hey hey, don’t do that,” Meis said, taking Geuira’s hands into his own. “Don’t hurt yourself, you don’t need to do that. Come on, let’s go get some food. You should get out of the house.”

Gueira was reluctant, but he let Meis help him stand. He shuffled to his dresser, pulling out some clothes. He hesitated for a moment, and during that moment he felt two warm arms wrap around him. 

“You’re safe now, Gueira. I won’t let anyone hurt you again,” Meis whispered next to his ear.

Gueira hated the way his heart fluttered. He shouldn’t be feeling this way for his best friend. “I’m gonna get dressed.”

“Alright, we’ll be in the living room when you’re ready.” Meis waited a moment, before slowly removing his arms from Gueira. His touch was lingering and hesitant, and it sparked a thought in Gueira’s mind that he quickly pushed down. 

Throwing the clothes to his bed, he stripped down of his night clothes. Pulling on his binder first, he looked at himself in the mirror. Flat. As it should be.

He hastily pulled on the rest of his clothes, fumbling with his shoes and jacket before making his way to the living room. 

“Hold it,” Lio said, approaching him.

Fear filled Gueira’s chest for a moment, until Lio started running his hands through his red locks.

“Your hair’s a mess,” Lio said. “We made a lunch reservation at the pizza place Galo likes. He’s been insistent on taking you there for a week now.”

“Two weeks!” Galo called from the couch.

Lio snickered. “Yes, two weeks. He insists it’s the best pizza in Promepolis.”

“It  _ is _ !”

Lio smoothed down the top of Gueira’s hair, before stepping back. “Better.” He linked his arm with Gueira’s. “Come on, let’s get you some food.”

The four of them ended up walking, as it was only a few blocks from Gueira’s apartment, with Galo leading the way. 

When they approached the restaurant, Galo began talking to who Gueira presumed to be the owner of the restaurant. Galo was very animated in their conversation, and seemed to know the owner on a personal level. The owner waved to them, leading them to their seats on the patio. Galo even waved to the man at the oven, who Gueira recognized as a Burnish that was captured shortly after he was. 

“Order whatever you like today, boys, it’s on the house!” the owner said, his voice energetic and happy. “Galo here’s been a patron of mine for a while. His rescue with Lio not only saved the city, but my employee over there! Thanks to these two, this place can finally go back to what it used to be!”

“We appreciate you taking our reservation on such short notice,” Meis replied with a smile.

“Of course! I’ll give you all some time to look over the menu!” The owner gave them a nod before making his way back into the restaurant. 

Gueira opened up the menu, but found himself just staring at the fine print. 

“Gueira?” Galo asked. “Hey, dude, are you okay?”

Gueira looked up quickly. “Uh, yeah, I’m...I’m fine.”

Galo reached out to put his hand on Gueira’s. “We can do this another time if you’re not up for it.”

“No no, it’s fine, you were really excited about this—”

“But it’s not the same if you’re not up for it. It’s fine, Gueira—”

“Do my eyes deceive me? Is that Galo Thymos?”

Galo looked up, and smiled. “Guys! What are you all doing here?”

“We were planning to get lunch, and it looks like we ran into you too,” the person with glasses said.

“Gueira, Meis, I don’t think you’ve met the rest of the Burning Rescue squad! This is Varys, Aina, Remi, and Lucia!” Galo said excitedly.

“So what’s this? A double date?” Lucia teased.

“Huh?! Well, not exactly. Gueira’s never been here before, and I know he likes pizza too!” Galo replied. 

Gueira ducked his head when the focus turned to him. “Uh...hi…”

“So you two are Gueira and Meis?” Varys asked. “It’s nice to meet you both, Lio talks a lot about you.” 

“Does he?” Meis laughed, looking at Lio. “Didn’t know you were a gossiper, Boss.”

Lio flushed. “I-it’s not gossip! You two are my friends, you mean a lot to me.”

“You kinda went berserk when they were captured,” Galo said.

Gueira looked up. “What?”

“Oh yeah!” Galo responded.

“Oh no,” Lio said, putting his face in his hands.

“Yeah, he was like, the center of this giant Burnish Flare dragon! He was hellbent on going after Kray. The dragon itself had like, blue flame that looked like it was crying. I saw it! Despite the situation, it was pretty cool!”

“ _ Please _ don’t boast about that in public,” Lio mumbled, looking around. “Kray still has some supporters, I’d like to not draw attention to what I did.”

“But if you hadn’t, then I wouldn’t have stopped you, Aina wouldn’t have dropped us at the frozen lake, we would’ve never found Dr. Prometh’s lab, and then we would’ve never stopped Kray!”

“Dr. Prometh?” Gueira repeated. “I thought he was dead?”

“Oh yeah, turns out Kray killed him,” Galo said. “Stole his research too.”

“Oh shit,” Meis said.

Gueira looked back down. “That’s really fucked up. But this is Kray we’re talking about. He only cared about himself.”

“True,” Lio said, putting his chin in his hand. “Glad he’s locked up for good.”

Galo bit his lip, and turned back to Aina. “So, where’s Ignis? Still at the station?”

Aina nodded. “He said he’d be joining us in a few minutes, he just has to finish up some paperwork.”

“We’re gonna go ahead and get a table and let you guys have your time together,” Remi said, looking at Gueira. “Don’t want to crowd you guys.”

Galo nods. “Thanks, guys. We’ll catch up later! Tell Ignis I said hi!”

A tall woman with bright red hair walked up to the table, pen and pad in hand. “Hi! Can I get you guys started with some drinks? Or are you ready to order now?”

“You guys ready to order?” Galo asked, but his eyes were focused on Gueira.

“Uh…” Gueira glanced back at the menu anxiously, while Meis and Lio proceeded to order.

Galo reached under the table to grasp Gueira’s hand, causing the redhead to flush. 

“I-I’ll just have whatever Galo’s having,” Gueira stuttered out.

Galo grinned, turning to the waitress. “I’ll take the Inferno Volcano Margherita Mega Max Pizza! We’ll start with one for now, him and I will share!” he said, gesturing to Gueira.

The waitress nodded, jotting down their orders. “Sounds great! It’ll be out in just a few minutes!”

Gueira nodded numbly, his mind still focusing on the fact that  _ Galo Thymos was holding his goddamn hand!! Under the table!! Like in some chick-flick!! What!! The!! Fuck!!! _

Galo flashed Gueira a smile, squeezing his hand again before letting go. Gueira suddenly felt very cold, and almost reached out to grab Galo’s hand again. He stopped himself before he could, however. He didn’t want to make Galo uncomfortable.

Gueira was so lost in his thoughts that he barely noticed when the food arrived at their table. He stared at the large mountain of pizza Galo had ordered, while the firefighter served up a plate for Gueira.

“I know it looks intimidating, but it’s really good!!” Galo said, handing the plate to Gueira, who took it feebly.

“It’s heavy,” Geuria said lightly, with a small smile.

“Yeah! Trust me, you’ll be hooked on it!” Galo said, flashing his signature smile.

Gueira felt his heart flutter, and he nodded. “I’ll take your word for it.”

Galo had been right, Gueira loved the pizza. Gueira ended up joining the conversation occasionally, and ended up laughing a few times.

Lio felt his heart swell with happiness when he heard Gueira laugh. It wasn’t much laughter, but he almost looked like the Gueira he knew so long ago; So carefree and happy. 

Things were working out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew! sorry this took so long to get out, i've been kinda dead for ideas and i've not been in the right place. 
> 
> i also wanna apologize about my short chapter, i've gotten used to writing concise and to-the-point roleplays, so it's gotten harder for me to drag on scenes and go in depth. chapter 2 was 6 pages on my doc, and even that seemed like a lot to me. i'm working on making longer chapters and having more go on in chapters. 
> 
> i appreciate all the feedback i've gotten on this! it makes me really happy that people are liking this!! <3 i'll try to have chapter 3 out soon!

**Author's Note:**

> hihi! sorry it's kinda short, i just needed to get this out of my system. chapter 2 will have gueira delving into what's been bothering him!


End file.
